A civil rights group filed a federal lawsuit Friday against the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security for failing to release information connected to President Donald Trump’s now-disbanded voter fraud commission. Voting rights advocates have expressed concern that the agencies might be working together as part of an effort by Trump and some commission members to justify his unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud. They also worry about possible efforts to enact tougher voting restrictions, such as proof of citizenship requirements. Without evidence, Trump has blamed “millions of people who voted illegally” as the reason why he lost the popular vote in the 2016 election.
“This administration may choose to ignore reasonable requests for information about its work, but it cannot ignore a court order that mandates the production of records on matters that impact the voting rights of millions of Americans,” said Kristen Clarke, president and director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “Through our lawsuit, we seek to expose the ways in which other federal agencies may be working to carry forth the commission’s unlawful activities.”
The group filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., seeking emails, calendars and other records of communications between the agencies and members and staff of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.
Full Article: Group sues for communications with Trump voter fraud panel.